Electric reciprocating engine



(No Model.)

0. J. VAN DEPOELE. ELECTRIC REGIPROGATING ENGINE.

No. 452,296. Patented May 12,1891.

MAXIMUM MINIMUM QA JW UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES J. VAN DEPOELE, 'OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

ELECTRIC RECIPROCATING ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 452,296, dated May 12, 1891.

Original application filed June 26, 1889, Serial No. 315,579. Divided and this application filed June 11,1890. Serial No. 355,018.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES J. VAN DE- POELE, a citizen of theUnited States, residing at Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Reciprocatmg Engines, of which the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanylng drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

This application is a division of my divisional application, Serial No. 315,579, filed June 26, 1889.

My invention relates to an improved apparatus for and method of operating reciprocat- 1ng electric engines, the engines being of the type set forth in my patent, No. 401,231, dated Aprilt), 1889. As set forthin the said patent,my improved electro-magnetic reciprocating engines are operated in synchronism with a generator or source of defined currents, each current impulse, phase, or wave energizing one of the motor-coils of the engine, the source of current and the motor-coils being so arranged relatively to each other that the phases of current will occur in the motor-coils in alternation, whereby each phase will produce movement of the magnetic piston of the en gine. As indicated in said patent, the current impulses sent to the motor-coils will be alternately reversed and the polarity of the piston changed accordingly. By my present invention the current flowing in the respective motor-coils is always of the same polarity, and the connections between the source and the said motor-coils are so made that when the engine is at rest the supply-current may flowthrough both motor-coils in series, thereby automatically positioning the magnetic piston at the center of the combined coils, from which pointit will readily start when the current begins to alternately rise in one coil and fall in the other, and vice versa, as occurs during the operation of the engine. \Vith such an arrangement it will be apparent that the moving magnetic piston is constantly magnetized, and therefore no time whatever is lost in remagnetizing the pistonupon the change of current from one motor-coil to the other or in reversing the magnetism of the (No model.)

piston in response to a motor-coil in which the poles are oppositely located.

The invention is embodied in an electric machine having an armature of any desired continuous-current type and a commutator for straightening the currents therein. Adjustable commutator-brushes are provided upon the normal line of commutation, and said stationary brushes are connected, respectively, with the outside terminals of a two-coil reciprocating engine, so that when uninterrupted the current would flow from one stationary brush through the combined motor-coils and back to the machine through the other stationary brush. The energizingcurrent is caused to rise in one coil while falling in the other, and vice versa, by means of an auxiliary commutator-brush, which is connected to the inner terminals of both 1110- tor-coils and arranged to be moved around or upon the commutator toward and away from the stationary brushes, whereby the said supply-current is alternately fed to one of the motor-coils through the moving brush and then permitted to return to the machine therethrough and through the other coil, producing a rise of current in one coil and a corresponding fall in the other coil withoutbreaking either of the circuits and also without changing the direction of the flow of the sup ply-current, so that while the machine is in operation there is a continuous fiow of current through some parts of its coils, and it follows that a magnetic piston placed within the motor-coils will follow the rise and fall of current, being always under the influence thereof. Furthermore, it is not necessary to provide any means for arresting the motion of the magnetic piston at the extremities of its movement, for the reason that said piston, being always magnetized and always under the influence of a live coil, cannot escape therefrom, and its momentum is arrested at each end of the stroke by whatI have termed the magnetic cushion.

Further details of the invention, together with the arrangement of the parts shown by way of illustration, will be hereinafter fully described and referred to in the appended claims.

A Saw th 1 .91%

guet I system of thewhich an armature Gramme or any suitable type, is rotatively i en ii generatoi G, of th mounted. The' e re Diof; th'e ar'n'iat-u-i c is wound with cont'i A d edylo'y ftei g y ricii'ar @Oillliifi tatofr in *the ell k n'o'y *Gramm'e armature. The face of the commit tatorE is made long enough to receive two sets of brushes, one (the main) being stationary and the other movable, and by stationary is meant-remaining in the" desired position upon the line of commutation, although they will of course be adjustably sustained, and said brushes can be single or double.

F F are the stationary brushes, desirably of carbon. The brushes F F are placed upon .the line of commutation and occupy that part of the commutator nearest the armature.

Upon the armature-shaft C is placed a rotating sleeve f, insulated from the shaft and provided with a pair of metallic arms G G, extending rearward to opposite points below and above the commutator, and at the extremities of said arms a second set of commutator-brushes g g are secured. The brush holders G G are carefully insulated each from the others upon their common bearing f, and adjacent to the axis of each is located a collector-ring g 9 one of said rings being in electrical connection with the brush g and the other with the brush g. Collector-brushes H H bear upon the collector-rings g 9 The sleeve f, together with the brush-holders and collector-rin gs attached thereto, is mechanically rotated, thereby causing the commutator-brushes g g to travel around the commutator toward and away from the points of maximum and zero electromotive force and to collect or convey currents of a duration dependent upon the speed with which the said brushes are moved about the commutator. The sleeve f may be rotated in any convenient manner, the specific means being immaterial; but in Fig. 2 it is shown as pro vided with a worm-wheel I, which is engaged by a worm i upon a driving-shaft1. The shaft I may be an extension of the armatureshaft of an electric motor J, by which the shaft, worm-wheel, sleeve, and commutatorbrushes may be rotated at any desired speed, suitable means being provided for regulating the motor. Where but one moving brush is required, one of the brush-carriers and conomitted.

:condit' ran'geinc'nt it w will tact;devices therefor showi lin Fig.2 will be The working-circuits in Fig. l are from main brush F of the generatorby conductor 3, which is bifurcated, one part q leading to one motor- 3 th Q::ai1,d.the other rtoinotor-coilR of separate double-coil engines comprising i notorcoils Q Q and R R. The conductor 7 from main brush F likewise divides and extends by conduct-or q to motor-coil Q and by conductor r to motor-coil R,returning from said co lsto t e-m0 ins-brSh svby mh t 1 .ectedfr pee rely, t b s e l1 the positions Show n the curreiit-s are maximum in coils Q R, the succeeding halfiotation of the brushes II H reversing the ons. Witl an j ,ipotentiall I w ith' I suit in alternatelyreducing motor-coils of reciprocating eng nes, which will thereby be caused to operate in synchro nismwith the sourceofsupply-current and perform useful work. Figs. 3,4,and5show the dilferent positions of the magnetic piston corresponding with different positions of the moving brush. In Fig. 3 the moving brush is equidistant between the stationary brushes. Consequently there is no more tendency of the current to flow through the intermediate conductor g in one direction than another, and the whole current flows from the positive brush through both motor-coils and back to the negative brush. The inner terminals of the motorcoils being united at the point of their connection with the intermediate conductor (1 the coils will with this arrangement be practically in series and form one long coil, wlthin which the magnetic piston will take position at the point of magnetic equilibrium. As the moving brush t'avels toward one of the stationary brushes, the flow of current will be decreased in one coil and increased in the other until, as indicated in Fig. at, the moving brush having reached a position opposite to the main negative brush all the current will flow from the positive brush through the coil Q, and thence through the intermediate conductor g to the negative side of the commutator, the position of the magnetic piston N being then central within the coil Q. As the moving brush travels away from the negative and toward the positive brush, the current falls in the coil Q and rises in the coil Q until the said moving brush reaches a position opposite to the positive brush, as indicated in Fig. 5, when the whole current will flow through the intermediate conductor 9 from the positive side of the commutator through the coil Q, and back to the main negative commutator-brush. The magnetic plunger N moves through the coils Q Q precisely in accordance with the transfer of current from one coil to the other. This being effected as dcscribed,it follows that the magproperici i'ciiits/and:coiiiiectionsrrcr.

the power in thc; 1..

is constriicti'onfand far tfil fifllSiIObd that the il'LSQ netism of the plunger is never changed or varied to any perceptible extent, and therefore a regular steady movement of said piston takes place, the piston following the movement of its magnetic field and being wholly unable to escape therefrom.

No particular form of gencrating-armature or source of rising and falling current is essential so long as the principles herein set forth are followed.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

1 The combination, with a source of continuous current, of two working-circuits connected therewith, an electro-dynamic reciprocating engine having two motor-coils, one in each working-circuit, a magnetic piston adapted to move under the influence of said coils, and means for simultaneously increasing the current in one coil and decreasing it in the other, thereby transferring the mag nctic field from one circuit to the other without interruption and securing constant magnetization of the piston, said piston following the movement of its field of force, substantially as described.

2. The combination, in a system of distribution comprising three line or Working conductors, of a source of current of constant difference of potential in the circuit formed by two of said conductors, a source of pulsating or currents of variable difference of potential, and means for directing alternately the pulsations of current therefrom through the circuits formed by the third conductor and each of the other two, as herein set forth.

In testimony whereof I hereto affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES J. VAN DEPOELE.

Witnesses:

FRANKLAND J ANNUS, JOHN W. GIBBONEY. 

